The creation
of NOAA was largely the result of an effort which began in June 1966
with enactment of the Marine Resources and Engineering Development
Act of 1966(P.L. 89-454). The Act declared it to be
the policy of the United States to:

develop,
encourage, and maintain a coordinated, comprehensive, and long-range
national program in marine science for the benefit of mankind, to
assist in protection of health and property, enhancement of commerce,
transportation, and national security, rehabilitation of our commercial
fisheries, and increased utilization of these and other resources.

To ensure
the effective implementation of this policy, the Act created a Commission
on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources to review and assess
existing and planned U.S. marine science activities and recommend
the required national oceanographic program and Governmental organizational
plan.

The Commission
was comprised of fifteen members, appointed by the President, representing
Federal and State governments, industry, academia, and other institutions
with programs or interest in marine science and technology. The Commission
was chaired by Julius A. Stratton, Chairman of the Ford Foundation,
and included: Leon Jaworski (then Attorney with Fulbright, Crooker,
Freeman, Bates and Jaworski), John H. Perry, Jr. (President Perry
Publications, Inc.), John Knauss (Dean, Graduate School of Oceanography,
University of Rhode Island), and Robert M. White (Administrator of
the Commerce Department's Environmental Science Services Administration).
As specified in the Act, the Commission was provided with four Congressional
advisors including former Senator Warren G. Magnuson of Washington
-- a name which is associated with much of this nation's ocean-related
legislation. The "Stratton Commission", as it came to be called, began
deliberations in early 1967 and on January 9, 1969 submitted their
final report to the President and Congress. That document, Our
Nation and the Sea: A Plan for National Action, set the stage
for the evolution of this Nation's current programs in marine science
and resource development.

Of particular
interest was the Commission's recommendation to create a new National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency which would administer the Nation's
principal civil marine and atmospheric programs. The Commission was
largely driven by the need to ensure the "full and wise use of the
marine environment" but, in reviewing the need to describe, understand
and predict global ocean processes, they recognized the need to address
the oceans and atmosphere as interactive components of the global
environment. As a result, they recommended that the new Agency incorporate
atmospheric science as well.

As envisioned
by the Commission, the new independent Agency was to be initially
composed of:

•
The U.S. Coast Guard;

•
The Environmental Science Services Administration of the Department
of Commerce;

•
The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the marine and anadromous fisheries
functions of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife of the Department
of Interior;

•
The National Sea Grant Program from the National Science Foundation;

•
elements of the U.S. Lake Survey of the Department of the Army, and;

•
The Department of the Navy's National Oceanographic Data Center.

The Commission
urged that "Because of the importance of the seas to this Nation and
the world, our Federal organization of marine affairs must be put
in order." [2]

Reorganization Plan #4

Immediately
after publication of Our Nation and the Sea, Congress responded
by beginning deliberations on the creation of the new agency. The
concept was also incorporated into President Nixon's Advisory Council
on Executive Organization. This Council, appointed in 1969 and chaired
by Ray L. Ash (Litton Industries), made a series of recommendations
on re-structuring the executive branch. One of those proposals was
to replace the Department of Interior with a new Department of Natural
Resources. One of the elements of the Department was to be a National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which would combine some elements
of the Department of Interior with the Environmental Science Services
Administration (ESSA) of the Department of Commerce. Then Secretary
of Commerce, Maurice Stans, noting that ESSA would comprise more than
two-thirds of this new Agency (some 10,000 employees and an estimated
FY 1970 budget of approximately $200 million) countered with a proposal
to, at least initially, consolidate and house NOAA within Commerce
and transfer it to the proposed Department of Natural Resources at
a later date. [3] Prior to the Stans' proposal, the Administration
had been considering housing an interim organization in the Department
of Interior. The logic of Secretary Stans' recommendation, possibly
combined with some political tensions between the White House and
Interior Secretary Hickel, lead [Ed. led] to a decision in favor of
Commerce. Deliberations within the Executive Branch finally resulted
in Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 which was proposed in early July
and became effective ninety days later in October 1970. President
Nixon had concurred with Secretary Stans and, incorporating elements
from the Stratton Commission Report, the Ash Council recommendations,
and Congressional deliberations, proposed that the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration be created within the Department of
Commerce.

Like
the Stratton Commission Report, Reorganization Plan No. 4 proposed
that the following programs be transferred to the new agency:

•
the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) of the
Department of Commerce;

• most of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and the marine sport
fishing program of its Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife;

• The Office of Sea Grant Programs from the National Science
Foundation;

• The mapping, charting and research functions of the Army's U.S.
Lake Survey; and

• The Navy's National Oceanographic Data Center.

Reorganization
Plan No. 4 did not implement the Stratton Commission's recommendation
to include the Coast Guard in the new NOAA, but went beyond that Commission's
proposed agency by also including:

In testimony
before the House Committee on Government Operations, Secretary Stans
described the creation of NOAA as an extension of the Department's
historical science and technology programs:

We
already have in the Department the solid base of science and technology
which will buttress the foundation of an exciting and vigorous NOAA...

I
believe that the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
will enable this nation in the decades ahead to fully and wisely utilize
and understand the oceans and the atmosphere. This new initiative
... will greatly enhance the quality of our environment, our security,
our economy, and our ability to meet increased demands for food and
raw materials. I regard the establishment of NOAA as an essential
step forward. [4]